Why you want to work in “finance” anyway? Are people in this industry somehow more happy than other people?
Anyway, I already told you how to get into “finance”, which is be in the top 1% of your current job. If you sell 10x as many front load funds as the next best person, I guarantee that you will have doors open for you. There is a way forward by salvaging your current path. However, as I stated before, most people just don’t get it or can’t do it, and that is why they are where they are.
The more you ignore the fact that getting ahead comes from actually being good, the more you won’t go anywhere.
CFA doesn’t matter because it is super easy and everyone can do it. Sorry for what you thought before, but I recommend you just do not make this central to your identity.
A 20% completion rate is just about damn near a shining bastion of an antithesis to what I would call “Everyone can do it”.
And is exactly why I would say that completing it surely would qualify you for entry level finance work - passing L1 is exactly how I landed my trade ops job.
I know you’re cynical, but are you really THAT cynical?
Yeah a LOT of people pass the CFA. It’s great, it’s nice, it helped me out in small ways I think in my career and as an individual, but I think you lack perspective on what “qualifies” someone.
This is a declining, highly competitive industry, you don’t get a sticker to go work in it like the CPA. A lot of industries (like accounting or nursing) are centered at the median, finance is absolutely not one of those industries, it is mean driven and very tail heavy. Your problems really began in school selection, if you want to do computer science, choose Carnegie Mellon or some tech equivalent, finance something costal like NYU, etc.
You need to be focusing on roles that offer some form of tangible hard skill that is transferable and brings you nearer to your ideal career in finance. Ideally if you’re serious about finance, then you should be building a plan towards a full time MBA or equivalent from a target recruiting school at least in the Top 15. Beneath that rank and your odds of successfully transitioning will slip a bit and you might be better served with like an MF degree or whatever. But its a chicken and the egg type thing, because you’re not going Top 10 MBA with work experience cold calling people and your grades should be very strong in undergrad, particularly given that you went to a school most recruiters on the coasts are probably unfamiliar with.
You have a lot of career and time ahead of you, at some point you need to start asking questions about your realistic prospects in various paths and making moves, maybe a career change is in order. I wouldn’t panic and flail, but forming an honest assessment and 5 year plan is crucial.
Ohai is actually right and you are just really kind of clueless. The pool of 20 thousand some odd people that sit for this is 90% people that screwed up and will never have a career in finance, who cares if 80% fail. 100% of people I know pass L1. But people I know are intelligent. I just really don’t think you’re grasping how competitive this field is right now or the whole mean vs median thing. Keep in mind that most of these banks are hiring from target schools with <10% acceptance rates among far more competitive pools.
"passing L1 is exactly how I landed my trade ops job. "
What, isn’t the whole premise that you hate your current job and don’t think it’s real finance? Sometimes I just don’t know what to say…
Anyway, I think I have stated what I think is material. You have a choice of whether to accept feedback and improve, or just keep pitying yourself and go nowhere.
Of course I am cynical, but I also have the job you want. So I don’t think it is a completely uneducated opinion…
ohai is right about being the best before moving onto something else. Think about how different school is from work and they still want a high gpa. And once you’re in the door for an interview your attitude can be like, I’m the best at something I don’t even want to do, imagine how good I will be working here! Rather than, I hate my job and I’m alright at it, it sucks, please hire me.
No no no - I’m only attacking a specific part of your argument (CFA), but that is not at all relevant to the focus of my complaint. I completely agree with everything else you said - trust me. Thank you for your feedback, it’s appreciated.
I wish I could tell you the name of my firm. It might change your opinion on if I work in finance or not. Truth is, I’m in the seat that our research analysts have interviewed for in the past. Which is weird, that they let someone like me, sit in this seat while truth be told I’d like to sit in theirs.
Look if you wanted to throw a hysteric incoherent pity party only to get offended and argue against yourself then tell us upfront and stop wasting our time.
Clearly we’re not getting through here or you’re just unwilling to get it. Working in a job cold calling on random indiscriminate products isn’t doing finance its selling widgets (to your original point), regardless of the logo on the business card. There are no hard skills. Neither of us is fooled about the situation, but at the same time, neither of us actually care, I have no skin in this.
You asked for advice, we gave it, it wasn’t what you wanted to hear apparently, so be it. You work in finance, your business card says so, you are set for life. UD is Yale. If you change your mind, what we wrote is there. Like Ohai, I am out.
My bad for coming across that way. I guess the point I’m trying to make is that I agree with you guys in the regard I’m not doing finance type stuff right “now”. They made me start at ground zero, I could have portrayed that better.
But for real, my bad about the seemingly bad attitude.
there was once a man who wanted a job, one that he never had any experience doing. Everyone, the experts, polls, fake news, said it could not be done! After the first round, he beat many experienced people and was left with one opponent left… a real demon, one with decades of experience. The person who had the job he wanted said that she was the most qualified candidates ever! Lots of people tried to tear him down but he did not give up! He had the best rallies, used the best words, and worked harder than anyone ever! And end the end, he accomplished what he set out to do. #MAGA
This thread is brutal. Ohai and BS are spit roasting you.
You do work in finance. Your day-to-day may not be as exciting as you want but you work right next to guys that influence a sh i t ton of assets. You have great resources right where you are. Want to cover FI? Get cozy with NB. He was just telling me his biggest concern is finding and retaining good talent.
As for trading, are you thinking about a role as a traditional trader or FinTech trading? The former is way hard to break into. The latter…well, you have a pretty good idea of that marketplace. You could go to any smaller tech company like Oranj, Black Diamond, or Orion and get a fresh start. Those guys are all tech geeks. Relative to people I’m used to calling on, they don’t know anything about finance. Not sure if you have any coding skills, but even if you don’t, all these new “technology solution providers” need people that actually know something about investments. And they’re all hiring. The only downside is you’ll probably wind up back at your current employer as they continue to buy every tech firm out there.
Sounds cool until you stop and think about it and realize that major league PM’s take most of the assets with them, no amount of sales people will bring in more assets than top decile performance (or win net assets in bottom decile performance) and that a lot of the best HF’s are closed to new assets entirely…
Take DoubleLine, built by Gundlach after leaving TCW from scratch, funds are publicly traded. Not a lot of sales people in the three comma club.
Gundlach had allegedly stashed a trove of illicit material in his office: 70 pornographic magazines and videos, 12 “sexual devices,” and several bags of marijuana.
All very true. Also true that it’s way easier to make a very good living on my side of the table. I’m okay knowing I’m never going to be a billionaire. I can still drink Tres Commas and pretend though.